Project Manager Simone Smits recently spoke with Jesse Mulligan on RNZ’s Afternoons to discuss the incredible scale and vision behind Te Manahuna Aoraki Project. Listen to the full interview to learn how our diverse partnership is working together and leveraging cutting-edge technology to protect this iconic landscape.

Listen to Simone’s interview on RNZ

The post RNZ Asks “Is this our most ambitious conservation project yet?” first appeared on Te Manahuna Aoraki Project.

Newsroom recently featured our ambitious mission to rid introduced pests from 70% of Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park, bringing it closer to becoming New Zealand’s first predator-free national park. Read how our team is utilising high-tech thermal drones and AI-enabled cameras in extreme alpine environments to eliminate possums, stoats, feral cats, rats, ferrets, hedgehogs, hares and rabbits and protect our native taonga like the rock wren, kea, and giant scree wētā.

Read the full story: Newsroom

The post 70% of Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park to be Predator-Free first appeared on Te Manahuna Aoraki Project.

DOC staff recently banded 31 kea from a flock of about 36 at Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park, the largest recorded since surveying started in 2019. Most of the birds are young kea, now fitted with microchip leg bands as part of a wider trial tracking how far kea travel across the Southern Alps.

Early data is already turning up surprises, with some birds clocking over 40km from the West Coast. It suggests the work of Te Manahuna Aoraki Project and neighbouring Predator Free South Westland is starting to connect across the landscape in a meaningful way.

It is an encouraging sign that our predator elimination work across 70% of the National Park is starting to make a difference for one of New Zealand’s most iconic species

Read the full story at NZ Herald, The Press, or Otago Daily Times

The post Largest kea flock seen in Aoraki since surveys began first appeared on Te Manahuna Aoraki Project.

An update from  Julia Rata Te Raki, (Project Lead Manawhenua), on the mana whenua-led project to restore mahika kai values to Hakatere / Fork Stream

In the heart of a vast 310,000-hectare mainland island, a legacy for our mokopuna is being woven into the waters of Hakatere / Fork Stream. This vital work is part of the Te Manahuna Aoraki Project (TMAP)—a vision to revitalise the mountains, braided rivers, and tussock grasslands of this unique region so that native animals, plants, and people can thrive together. This is a vision we are weaving into reality with our founding partners, Te Rūnanga o Arowhenua, Te Rūnanga o Waihao, Te Rūnanga o Moeraki, Department of Conservation, and NEXT Foundation, alongside high-country landowners, other government agencies and philanthropic investors.

In 2017/2018 the entire TMAP project was scoped, and kā rūnaka voiced a clear priority: restore mahika kai and freshwater values to Hakatere / Fork Stream. From this aspiration emerged a singular mission: to remove trout from its tributaries, restore mahika kai and freshwater values and re-establish traditional mahika kai in Hakatere / Fork Stream. Nature itself provided the perfect tool for this task—Hakatere / Fork Stream has 2 trout barriers making it the ideal location to remove the trout because once we remove them all they will be gone forever.

Kā rūnaka led the first stages of trout removal between 2019-2021, achieving a staggering 90% knockdown of trout and removing 1053 trout in a powerful declaration of intent. After a period of planning, a work program originally drafted by Rosemary Clucas in 2021 was picked up in 2023, and kā rūnaka began to lead the mahi again. This resurgence was powered by the 2024/2025 mana whenua Fisher team—a mana-filled collective of 10 rakatahi, 3 pakeke, and kaumātua Karl Russell, led by Nathan Meager and representing whakapapa from all 3 kā rūnaka.

Over seven days of intensive mahi across two site visits, their work yielded incredible results. In total, 393 brown and 193 rainbow trout of varying sizes were removed from the left tributary of Hakatere / Fork Stream. The data and their own eyes confirmed the progress: trout numbers upstream of the true left barrier were lower than previously, with good drops of numbers occurring overall.

However, the true measure of our success revealed itself not in the trout counted, but in the native life flourishing. Upstream of the barrier, the waters now teem with bignose galaxias, while the thrilling sight of large kōaro and tuna in the system brought our whānau immense pride. Each of these native species signals the stream’s healing and the restoration of our mahika kai.

This project is a living model of kaitiakitaka, operating at every level. Strategically, it is governed by the TMAP Board, which includes a Rūnaka Director and Observer, while operational guidance comes from the mana whenua advisory group, fulfilling our role in key governance and advisory bodies. On the ground, this leadership translates into action: whānau have been trained to collect data and conduct electrofishing safely, ensuring this knowledge is held by our people. The data they collect for Aoraki Environmental Consultants (AEC) guarantees our rūnaka leads the science, with an updated report on fish density soon to guide our next steps.

With clear eyes, we acknowledge both the progress made and the journey ahead. The mahi is not finished, but it is empowered by strong whakawhanuangatanga. The profound opportunity to access ancestral lands again after nearly 180 years fuels our determination. Guided by this momentum, we are focused on key opportunities: building relationships with high country landowners and government agencies, and deepening our connection by inviting kaumatua to share the pūrākau and whakapapa of Te Manahuna and Hakatere / Fork Stream.

Our ultimate goal is to weave together technical expertise and kaitiakitaka. We are building a field team that is highly skilled, with its work deeply rooted in a cultural and spiritual connection to wai and the responsibility to manage it as a taonga. Through a firmly embedded tuakana/teina approach, we ensure our rakatahi grow into these roles as both learners and leaders.

The mauri of Hakatere / Fork Stream is stirring back to life. And with every trout removed, with every data sheet filled by our own people, with every story shared by our kaumātua, our own identity is strengthened. We are not just restoring a waterway; we are fulfilling the aspiration to restore our connection, our mahika practices, and our right to gather kai for generations to come.

He taonga tuku iho tēnei, he hua nā ō tātou mahi tahi – a legacy flowing as strong and steady as the waters of Hakatere, a vital part of the great wetland complex of Te Manahuna.

The post Kia hora ai te Kōaro me te Tuna: So that the Kōaro and Tuna may thrive first appeared on Te Manahuna Aoraki Project.

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The work to get rid of possums, stoats and other pests over thousands of hectares has been done by Te Manahuna Aoraki Project – part of Zero Invasive Predators.

The average flock size in the Malte Brun area in 2024 was twice that seen two years before.

Initial elimination operations have now been carried out across 30,000 hectares in the alpine zone and 4,000 hectares in the tussock dryland/farmland.

The Project now hopes to scale up its efforts over a much wider areas.

Kathryn talks to the Te Manahuna Aoraki Project technical lead for kea, Nick Foster.

LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW

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